Economic performance of dairy farms in KwaZulu-Natal and implications for milk quality and hygiene interventions

Résumé

Dairy production contributes substantially to food security, employment and rural livelihoods, yet the economic performance of dairy enterprises in South Africa remains poorly documented. This study assessed the economic performance of dairy farms in KwaZulu-Natal and considered what the findings imply for investment in milk quality and hygiene interventions. Data were collected through structured face-to-face interviews conducted during on-farm visits to 37 dairy farms in November 2025. Descriptive statistics and cost–benefit analysis were used, with total costs, total benefits, net benefit, the Benefit–Cost Ratio (BCR) and Return on Investment (ROI) computed for each farm and then averaged across farms. Feed (ZAR 48,200 per month) and labour (ZAR 32,500 per month) were the largest components of total monthly costs of ZAR 127,200, indicating that resource allocation and labour efficiency play a significant role in farm profitability. Milk sales accounted for approximately 85% of total monthly revenue of ZAR 444,600, highlighting the dependence of farm income on milk quality and market acceptability. Mean net benefit was ZAR 317,400, mean BCR 3.92 and mean ROI 292.18%, indicating that dairy farming in the province is profitable under prevailing conditions. These averages nonetheless conceal substantial dispersion, with BCR ranging from 0.52 to 18.95 and ROI from −47.98% to 1,794.56%, and with some farms recording negative net benefits. This dispersion is consistent with differences in scale, management efficiency and hygiene compliance across farms. Only 12% of farm personnel had received formal hygiene training despite 84.7% reporting awareness of its importance, and farms received an average of 3.45 extension visits annually. Given the dominance of milk sales in revenue, this gap between awareness and technical capacity is a plausible target for intervention, although the returns to specific interventions were not measured in this study and require ex-ante appraisal.

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